Micron Technology Stock Jumps On Q1 Earnings Beat, Q2 Guidance

Memory chipmaker Micron Technology (MU) returned to sales and earnings growth late Wednesday when it reported fiscal first-quarter results. Its earnings per share easily topped Wall Street's estimates, while sales came up a tad short. But its guidance for the current quarter was way above Wall Street's views.

Micron earned 32 cents a share excluding items, up 10% year over year, on sales of $3.97 billion, up 18.5%, in the quarter ended Dec. 1.

Before the Q1 report, Boise, Idaho-based Micron had posted six straight quarters of sales declines on a year-over-year basis and seven consecutive quarters of EPS declines.

IBD'S TAKE:Micron stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 56, meaning it has outperformed 56% of stocks in key metrics over the past 12 months. For more information on Micron stock, visit the IBD Stock Checkup.

Under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Micron earned 16 cents a share in Q1, down 16% year over year.

For fiscal Q2, Micron expects non-GAAP earnings per share of 58 to 68 cents on sales of $4.35 billion to $4.70 billion. The midpoint of its guidance is 63 cents EPS on sales of $4.53 billion.

Wall Street has been modeling Micron to earn 39 cents a share ex items, vs. a year-earlier loss of 5 cents a share, on sales of $3.91 billion, up 33%.

Micron stock soared over 9% in after-hours trading following the earnings news release and guidance given on a conference call with analysts. During the regular session Wednesday, its shares fell 0.3% to 20.58 on the stock market today.

"Positive market momentum, driven by favorable demand trends and limited industry supply, produced solid results for our first quarter," Micron CEO Mark Durcan said in a statement. "We continue to make significant progress on our key technology and product initiatives, and we are pleased to have closed the Inotera acquisition on Dec. 6, which we expect to further improve Micron's strategic position and financial results."

Notice: Information contained herein is not and should not be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell securities. The information has been obtained from sources we believe to be reliable; however no guarantee is made or implied with respect to its accuracy, timeliness, or completeness. Authors may own the stocks they discuss. The information and content are subject to change without notice.